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John G.C. Brainard
John Gardiner Calkins Brainard (October 1796 - September 26, 1828) was an American poet, lawyer, and editor. Life Family, youth, education Brainard was born in New London, Connecticut, son of Jeremiah G. Brainard, formerly a judge of the Connecticut Superior Court. He was a descendant of Lion Gardiner, an early English settler and soldier in the New World, who founded the first English settlement in what became the state of New York. His legacy includes Gardiners Island, which remains in the family and is the largest privately owned island in the United States. Brainard was tutored at home by an elder brother, then entered Yale College at the age of 15 in 1811, earning a B.A. in 1815.John G.C. Brainard, English Poetry, 1579-1830, Center for Applied Technologies in the Humanities, Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University. Web, May 17, 2016. On leaving college he was taken on as a student at law in his brother William F. Brainard's office.Whittier, J. G., The literary remains of J.G.C. Brainard: with a sketch of his life, 1832. Career By 1819 Brainard had been called to the bar and moved to Middletown, Connecticut, apparently to set up his own practice. In fact, he seems to have been apathetic about a legal career, feeling that his nature was too sensitive for such a profession. Some of his earliest poems are from this period of his life, published in a New Haven literary paper, The Microscope, published by Cornelius Tuthill.The poems of John G.C. Brainard: A new and authentic collection, with an original memoir of his life, 1847. In February 1822, Brainard was engaged as editor of the Connecticut Mirror in a bid to further a literary career. Again, biographies agree that this was not the ideal job for him, and that "his temperament was totally unsuited to rough collissions of editorial controversy". In this role he published a number of his own works within the newspaper, which were well received and gave him a literary reputation. He appears to have been well known and well thought of in his community. He is known to have been a friend of McDonald Clarke, the so-called "Mad poet of Broadway".Appleton's cyclopaedia of American biography, Volume 1, (1900) In 1824-1825 he published a first volume, Occasional Pieces of Poetry by John G.C. Brainard, being reprints of works first published in the Mirror, together with a miscellany of unpublished poems. By the spring of 1827, he was in failing health, suffering from tuberculosis. He returned to New London, giving up his Mirror role, but continuing to have poems published in it. He died on September 26, 1828. Recognition A number of poets, including John Greenleaf Whittier, wrote poems in his memory. A posthumous The Literary Remains of J.G.C. Brainard: With a sketch of his life was published in 1832, and revised and republished as The poems of John G.C. Brainard: A new and authentic collection. A number of his poems are anthologized. Publications Poetry *''Occasional Pieces of Poetry''. New York: E. Bliss & E. White, 1825. *''Poems'' (with memoir by Royal Robbins). Hartford, CT: Edward Hopkins, 1842. Novel *Letters Found in the Ruins of Fort Braddock: Including an interesting American tale''. New York: Wilder & Campbell, 1824. **also published as Fort Braddock Letters; or, A tale of the French and Indian wars in America at the beginning of the eighteenth century. Worcester, MA: Dorr & Howland, 1827. Collected editions *''The Literary Remains'' (edited by John Greenleaf Whittier). Hartford, CT: P.B. Goodsell, 1832. See also *List of U.S. poets References External links ;Poems *"The Deep" *John G.C. Brainard info & 15 poems at English Poetry, 1579-1830 ;About *John G.C. Brainard at Strangers to Us All: Lawyers and poety *J.G.C. Brainard by Edgar Allan Poe Category:1795 births Category:1828 deaths Category:Poets from Connecticut Category:Gardiner family Category:19th-century poets Category:American poets Category:19th-century male writers Category:English-language poets Category:Poets Category:Yale University alumni